An interesting story
reached the Phantom Blogger as a result of the competition we are running on
this year’s blog. One of the questions (please click on the competition link to
the right if you’ve not already done so) is ‘Where were the first acts of war
committed by Australian troops in WW1?’.
Whilst we won’t reveal
the answer here until the competition has closed on Thursday, Graeme Cairns mentioned an incident that took place at Port Huon, right here in Tasmania, as
soon as war was declared. A story almost forgotten, but a little research
unearthed the following:
One of Australia's first
acts of WWI took place in Hobart 100 years ago
When war was declared 100
years ago, one of the first military actions in Australia took place in
Tasmania at Port Huon.
A small troupe of naval
reservists were sent to commandeer a German ship and arrest its crew members.
Historian Reg Watson said
it was a slice of the state's military history that was almost forgotten.
"It's very little
known but the part that it played in our military history in Tasmania is quite
significant," he said.
A German ship, the
Oberhausen, was taking on a load of timber at Port Huon.
"The authorities in
Hobart were watching it. They were aware of its existence being moored here at
Port Huon and when war was declared action was taken to seize the vessel
because they were looked upon as hostile vessels," Mr Watson said.
Photo of the Oberhausen
Eleven naval reservists
armed with rifles were sent from Hobart to seize the ship and capture its 45
crew members.
But despite being well
armed, Mr Watson said the reservists were not experienced soldiers.
"They were naval
reserve. I dare say they were quite nervous. They didn't know what to
expect," he said.
As they were making their
journey down the Huon Highway, the soldiers came to an abrupt stop when a
fallen tree blocked their way.
"It was just
fortunate for them that there was a passenger bus coming the other way, and
they got out of their car and commandeered the bus and went down in style to
capture the vessel," Mr Watson said.
'One of Australia's first
acts of war'
As they were en route the
93rd infantry was on its way to provide back up for the small band of naval
reservists, but Mr Watson said they were not needed.
"The fact that there
could have been some contention down here (at Port Huon), some confrontation.
But as they arrived down here the crew and the captain...didn't even know war
had been declared and it seems to have been a peaceful seizure," he said.
Mr Watson believed it was
one of the first acts of war to take place in Australia.
"It's interesting
the newspapers at the time only carried some little reports on it. I thought it
would have been substantial news for the newspapers," he said.
"I dare say there
would have been hoards of people going down to the edge of the river to view
it."
Photo of some of the Oberhausen's crew
Kathy Duncombe from the
historical group Friends of Bruny Island Quarantine Station said the German
crew was put to work picking fruit around Glenorchy.
"The premier thought
they were a bit too close to the city, that they would be better a bit further
away so they decided Bruny Island would be a good place to put them," she
said.
They arrived at the Bruny
Island Quarantine Station at the beginning of 1915.
"I feel that these
seaman were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were just
delivering timber down at Port Huon and war broke out," Ms Duncombe said.
"They were put to
work mainly felling the timber on the site because there's 320 acres here or
128 hectares I think it is," she said.
Germans revolt on Bruny
Island
The German crew were
promised two shillings a day to clear the land but when the payment from the
State Government was not received, the prisoners revolted.
An army reserve team was
sent to the island to quell the riot. Private Ray Searle was among them.
The Friends of Bruny
Island Quarantine Station have a letter he wrote shortly after the operation,
dated August 3, 1915.
"We landed and drove
the Germans down on to the beach. They were pretty troublesome but we managed
to arrest six of them and drove the rest of them inside," he wrote.
Ms Duncombe said there
was gunfire during the altercation.
"They said that they
fired two shots but it would have been up in the air just as a warning to say,
'that's not the way to go, bloke'," she said.
After the riot was put
down island life resumed for the prisoners of war.
"As far as I could
tell they were probably reasonably well fed. You've got to remember there
wasn't a road in here (to Bruny Island) at this stage so all supplies had to
come in by boat from Hobart," Ms Duncombe said.
"One time the food
was off and they had to rely on fish and what they could get on site."
After nine months the men
were transferred to the Holsworthy internment camp outside of Sydney.
Ms Duncombe said their
time on Bruny Island would not be forgotten, with the Friends of the Quarantine
Station commemorating their stay.
"A lot of people,
even Bruny Islanders, don't realise a lot of the different eras of the
quarantine station but it's really got quite an interesting history," she
said.
And while there is little
left of the Oberhausen, which was broken up in 1930, Mr Watson said the story
of the German ship had survived.
"It is a part of our
history it was a small action in the whole total thing but none the less it is
important, and I'm quite intrigued by it if not a little bit proud of our naval
reserve that partook in the first one of the first military actions of world
war," he said.
